March 19, 2014

ISIQ-0416

“Fear is a choice.” – Will Smith

Yesterday, I crumbled.

I sat in a pit of fear for most of the day. Stupid things were making me feel fearful. Money. Time. Overwhelm. Parental guilt.

I couldn’t get out of it.

My lovely, amazing, strong, incredible wife Bel spoke to me yesterday after dinner, and reminded me of a quote in a film we’d seen last week.

“Fear is a choice.”

You can, she told me, choose to feel the fear and let it overwhelm you, or you can choose to let it go.

In that moment, I had no chance of letting it go. My heart was pounding, my stomach felt like a bowling ball, and my head was swimming in all the imaginary scenarios  I could face if my fears came true.

But last night, as I lay in bed quieting my mind for sleep, I remembered this scene in the film. (My memory is pretty awesome with film dialogue, so I remembered most of it almost verbatim.)

I remembered another moment in the film where Will Smith’s character helped his son overcome his fear. He said to “Ground yourself in this present moment. Feel your body. Feel your breath. Notice the sensations around you.”

I did this last night, and things shifted. My chest eased. My heart slowed. My mind relaxed.

So this morning, my friends, I wanted to share this with you.

With love,
Israel. xo

PS This is yet another piece of evidence that I’m NOT superhuman, that I’m a fragile, insecure human at times, just like the rest of you. Just thought you should know, and take comfort that even though I publish these inspiring quotes every day, I don’t always got my sh!t together. :)

PPS Strictly speaking, this quote isn’t by Will Smith – it’s by his character in the film After Earth. But you don’t mind semantics like that, right?

 

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